No more nighttime expeditions for Mr. Clutterbuck—unless there’s a power failure, of course.
A sleepwalking goat dispels crises, wreaks gooey havoc, and solves a mysterious rash of disappearing spoons in this Finnish import.
With his frantic guinea pig, Gus, scurrying along to flag down street traffic, Mr. Clutterbuck (“Herra Hakkarainen” in the original Finnish) drifts out in his nightshirt for inadvertent adventure. He brings rival biker gangs together, saves Wally Wurst’s sausage factory, causes a major mustard spill in the railyard, inspires a rock band with impromptu lyrics—“SQUICK-SQUELCH MUDDY BUTT! BRATTY POOPY POO!” (“Rude and crude and just what we need!” squeals manager Ramp Fibian)—and pulls off other exploits, all unawares. Finally, the morning after he helps nab feathered felon Picklock Pete and recover a huge stash of stolen spoons, the grateful town presents the confused caprine with a gift that leaves the exhausted Gus, at least, delighted: a treadmill. An all-animal cast prone (except for Mr. Clutterbuck) to comical overreactions crowds cartoon illustrations that are properly replete with silly details and side business. There’s more text than in a typical picture book, and the already-busy design can seem overwhelming, but silly names and situations should keep older listeners hooked.
No more nighttime expeditions for Mr. Clutterbuck—unless there’s a power failure, of course. (Picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: Nov. 28, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-914671-76-3
Page Count: 36
Publisher: Elsewhere Editions
Review Posted Online: July 16, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2017
A brisk if bland offering for series fans, but cleverer metafictive romps abound.
The titular cookie runs off the page at a bookstore storytime, pursued by young listeners and literary characters.
Following on 13 previous How To Catch… escapades, Wallace supplies sometimes-tortured doggerel and Elkerton, a set of helter-skelter cartoon scenes. Here the insouciant narrator scampers through aisles, avoiding a series of elaborate snares set by the racially diverse young storytime audience with help from some classic figures: “Alice and her mad-hat friends, / as a gift for my unbirthday, / helped guide me through the walls of shelves— / now I’m bound to find my way.” The literary helpers don’t look like their conventional or Disney counterparts in the illustrations, but all are clearly identified by at least a broad hint or visual cue, like the unnamed “wizard” who swoops in on a broom to knock over a tower labeled “Frogwarts.” Along with playing a bit fast and loose with details (“Perhaps the boy with the magic beans / saved me with his cow…”) the author discards his original’s lip-smacking climax to have the errant snack circling back at last to his book for a comfier sort of happily-ever-after.
A brisk if bland offering for series fans, but cleverer metafictive romps abound. (Picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: Aug. 3, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-7282-0935-7
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2021
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BOOK REVIEW
A lesson that never grows old, enacted with verve by two favorite friends
Gerald the elephant learns a truth familiar to every preschooler—heck, every human: “Waiting is not easy!”
When Piggie cartwheels up to Gerald announcing that she has a surprise for him, Gerald is less than pleased to learn that the “surprise is a surprise.” Gerald pumps Piggie for information (it’s big, it’s pretty, and they can share it), but Piggie holds fast on this basic principle: Gerald will have to wait. Gerald lets out an almighty “GROAN!” Variations on this basic exchange occur throughout the day; Gerald pleads, Piggie insists they must wait; Gerald groans. As the day turns to twilight (signaled by the backgrounds that darken from mauve to gray to charcoal), Gerald gets grumpy. “WE HAVE WASTED THE WHOLE DAY!…And for WHAT!?” Piggie then gestures up to the Milky Way, which an awed Gerald acknowledges “was worth the wait.” Willems relies even more than usual on the slightest of changes in posture, layout and typography, as two waiting figures can’t help but be pretty static. At one point, Piggie assumes the lotus position, infuriating Gerald. Most amusingly, Gerald’s elephantine groans assume weighty physicality in spread-filling speech bubbles that knock Piggie to the ground. And the spectacular, photo-collaged images of the Milky Way that dwarf the two friends makes it clear that it was indeed worth the wait.
A lesson that never grows old, enacted with verve by two favorite friends . (Early reader. 6-8)Pub Date: Nov. 4, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-4231-9957-1
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Hyperion
Review Posted Online: Nov. 4, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2014
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BOOK REVIEW
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